Wu Lei

[Leo_Messi]

Paik at Girona as well, Nakajima at Portimonhense is another incredible talent.

Yes.

Funny that you mention that Japanese guy. A few months ago I caught myself watching the Portimonense-Benfica game due to a bet and exactly that Japanese attacker scored. He was rather impressive. According to Wiki he is no longer under contract.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoya_Nakajima

I would like to see him playing in Spain next door instead of a Portuguese mid table club with zero exposure.

 

[EdmondDantes]

It doesn't surprise me. He's known for scoring absolute bangers.

Apparently he's very sought after in Europe but some UAE club is throwing 35 million at Portimonhense for him so he might end up out of Europe soon, sadly.

 

[Leo_Messi]

It doesn't surprise me. He's known for scoring absolute bangers.

Apparently he's very sought after in Europe but some UAE club is throwing 35 million at Portimonhense for him so he might end up out of Europe soon, sadly.

€35 million? You got to love oil/gas money. That is an amount that most Spanish clubs cannot spend let alone on a young and largely unproven Japanese player playing for a Portuguese mid table club.

 

[Messi983]

€35 million? You got to love oil/gas money. That is an amount that most Spanish clubs cannot spend let alone on a young and largely unproven Japanese player playing for a Portuguese mid table club.

It makes more sense when you read this.

http://www.fichajes.com/breves/shoya-nakajima-se-marcha-a-catar-por-35-meur_145257

Don't know how good Nakajima is but it wouldnt' surprised me if he would end up "on loan" at PSG if nothing else to get more fans in Japan/Asia.

 

[Leo_Messi]

It makes more sense when you read this.

http://www.fichajes.com/breves/shoya-nakajima-se-marcha-a-catar-por-35-meur_145257

Don't know how good Nakajima is but it wouldnt' surprised me if he would end up "on loan" at PSG if nothing else to get more fans in Japan/Asia.

Honestly since watching that Portimonense-Benfica game on a Bet365 livestream (LOL), I have not heard a single word about that Japanese player in question.

However the article that you have linked to claims that Al-Duhail (it was Qatar and not UAE [MENTION=19659]EdmondDantes[/MENTION] ) is owned by the Qatari ruling family as well so the QSG connection that you have mentioned probably makes sense. However it is a very strange move sporting wise for a player approaching 25 years of age and a player who has done very well in Portugal. It's basically not just one step down but several steps down career wise. Unless it will be a short stint in Qatar before he moves to QSG in the summer.

 

[Luftstalag14]

I think he will play because he's too talented not to. The question is how long it will take for him to adapt to a different league.

It seems like there's a lot of great banter going on in Chinese forums then. People cheekily claiming to be 3 decade long Espanyol fans is hilarious.



One more thing, I keep reading Wu Lei is injured and just had surgery, but how come he was juggling with the ball in his presentation? What's his injury about?

Shoulder injury as others have pointed out. Espanyol has cleared him medically already so technically he is fit to play for them as early as their next game.

 

[Luftstalag14]

I have no clue who that guy is as I have never watched him in action to date. However looking at his stats he seems to be the best Chinese player for what that is worth. A good move by Espanyol and hopefully this will create added interest in La Liga in China. I understand that Spanish football is getting more and more popular in China. Such moves will definitely help propel that trend.

There is also that 17 year old talented South Korean playing for Valencia and I believe that the owners of Valencia are of Chinese descent too.

It is just the "wrong" type of Chinese owners. It would be funnier with more wealthy owners although I usually don't like those type of football clubs who are not in it for the long run. However I don't see any other method for other Spanish clubs to threaten the big 3 long-term. In particular Valencia has tremendous potential to grow as a club. Hate to say it but Espanyol too has great potential. Their location in BCN and their rivalry with us ensures that alone. Aside from being a Spanish top flight club.

Real Madrid and us are hugely popular among Chinese football fans however I wish I could say that La Liga overall is getting more popular. Not many people here watch La Liga games when the big two are not playing. There are supposedly some following of Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla as I have seen forums for these teams but there are more or less inactive. Eibar gained some popularity years ago when they did cloud-funding and many Chinese fans chipped in and they boasted of owning "a part of the club". Espanyol became very popular because of Wu Lei's transfer. La Liga games have been carried by an online streaming site that many people have complained about (being too slow etc.), I have heard rumors that the broadcasting right might go back to CCTV (the government-owned and first TV channel in China) soon so let's hope so. We (Barca) will definitely benefit if the La Liga pie becomes bigger.

 

[Leo_Messi]

Real Madrid and us are hugely popular among Chinese football fans however I wish I could say that La Liga overall is getting more popular. Not many people here watch La Liga games when the big two are not playing. There are supposedly some following of Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla as I have seen forums for these teams but there are more or less inactive. Eibar gained some popularity years ago when they did cloud-funding and many Chinese fans chipped in and they boasted of owning "a part of the club". Espanyol became very popular because of Wu Lei's transfer. La Liga games have been carried by an online streaming site that many people have complained about (being too slow etc.), I have heard rumors that the broadcasting right might go back to CCTV (the government-owned and first TV channel in China) soon so let's hope so. We (Barca) will definitely benefit if the La Liga pie becomes bigger.

That was some great and some less great news. Thanks for the heads up Luft.

I have a question though. Naturally most foreign football fans abroad will tend to follow the top clubs (95% probably or close to it, a gut feeling as I don't have any evidence to back this claim up with but it seems rather logical) in every league but how many fans does say Lazio, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Napoli etc. have in China? Or what about clubs like Leipzig, Leverkusen, Eintracht, Wolfsburg, Stuttgart, Gladbach etc. in Germany? Or English clubs outside of the imaginary "top 6"?

There can't be much of a difference here or am I wrong?

 

[Luftstalag14]

That was some great and some less great news. Thanks for the heads up Luft.

I have a question though. Naturally most foreign football fans abroad will tend to follow the top clubs (95% probably or close to it, a gut feeling as I don't have any evidence to back this claim up with but it seems rather logical) in every league but how many fans does say Lazio, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Napoli etc. have in China? Or what about clubs like Leipzig, Leverkusen, Eintracht, Wolfsburg, Stuttgart, Gladbach etc. in Germany? Or English clubs outside of the imaginary "top 6"?

There can't be much of a difference here or am I wrong?

I don't have numbers to back up either but I'd agree largely with you it is probably the case with the other leagues too. Most fans follow the big and successful clubs.

That said, Serie A to this day still have a very solid following in China because of its heyday in the 90's and Lazio for example has some die-hard fans here who are pretty active. Also, the Chinese have long admired Germany and everything German (for some reason I can't explain) so Bundesliga as a whole is definitely more popular here than La Liga as their games have been carried by CCTV for like 20 some years straight. EPL fans are the greatest in numbers because the sheer size of big clubs in the EPL and they have been extremely active, even when their clubs have not been doing well (Arsenal and Liverpool and United for example).

If I have to rank the popularity of the European Big 5 leagues ( as a whole) in China and profile each fanbase based on my anecdotal experience, I would probably say this:

(1) EPL (both older fans and younger fans)
(2) Bundesliga (both older fans and younger fans)
(3) La Liga (mostly younger fans)
(4) Serie A (mostly older fans)
(5) Ligue 1 (younger fans I assume and probably not that many at all)

 

[Leo_Messi]

I don't have numbers to back up either but I'd agree largely with you it is probably the case with the other leagues too. Most fans follow the big and successful clubs.

That said, Serie A to this day still have a very solid following in China because of its heyday in the 90's and Lazio for example has some die-hard fans here who are pretty active. Also, the Chinese have long admired Germany and everything German (for some reason I can't explain) so Bundesliga as a whole is definitely more popular here than La Liga as their games have been carried by CCTV for like 20 some years straight. EPL fans are the greatest in numbers because the sheer size of big clubs in the EPL and they have been extremely active, even when their clubs have not been doing well (Arsenal and Liverpool and United for example).

If I have to rank the popularity of the European Big 5 leagues ( as a whole) in China and profile each fanbase based on my anecdotal experience, I would probably say this:

(1) EPL (both older fans and younger fans)
(2) Bundesliga (both older fans and younger fans)
(3) La Liga (mostly younger fans)
(4) Serie A (mostly older fans)
(5) Ligue 1 (younger fans I assume and probably not that many at all)

Very strange to see a traditionally one-horse league like the Bundesliga which is and has historically been vastly inferior to La Liga being more popular than La Liga. What is the reason for that? I don't recall any Chinese players playing in Germany or doing well there.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Very strange to see a traditionally one-horse league like the Bundesliga which is and has historically been vastly inferior to La Liga being more popular than La Liga. What is the reason for that? I don't recall any Chinese players playing in Germany or doing well there.

Well, like I said we romanticize Germany way too much perhaps and it helps when the games are made widely accessible to anybody who has a TV set (because it has been carried by CCTV for as long as I remember).

Actually there had been quite a few Chinese players joining Bundesliga, as a matter of fact the first batch of Chinese players going abroad went to Germany. Yang Chen, who is from my hometown Beijing, was the first Chinese player ever to go overseas and he remains the most successful and prolific one to this day, scoring 21 goals in 94 appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt in 3 seasons between 1998 and 2001 and was selected by Kicker magazine three times as the best XI of Bundesliga back then. Another personal favorite of mine, Shao Jiayi, also from Beijing went to play for TSV 1860 Munich and then went on to play for Cottbus and Duisburg in early 2000's. So far there have been 5 Chinese players who played in Bundesliga vs. 5 played in the EPL vs. just 2 in La Liga (including the latest Wu Lei. the first one, Zhang Chengdong joined Rayo Vallecano in 2015 and only played as a sub in 4 games).

From my recollection not just Chinese players, more Japanese and South Korean players as well have played in the Bundesliga than any other leagues.

 

[Joan]

@Luft, incredibly interesting posts. Thanks

 

[Messi983]

Looks like after signing Wu Lei Espanyol will sell Leo Baptistao to Wuhan Zall for around 6M€.

At the same time they are negotiating a possible loan deal with Benfica for Facundo Ferreyra.

 

[Luftstalag14]

@Luft, incredibly interesting posts. Thanks

Bitte schön.

 

[Leo_Messi]

Well, like I said we romanticize Germany way too much perhaps and it helps when the games are made widely accessible to anybody who has a TV set (because it has been carried by CCTV for as long as I remember).

Actually there had been quite a few Chinese players joining Bundesliga, as a matter of fact the first batch of Chinese players going abroad went to Germany. Yang Chen, who is from my hometown Beijing, was the first Chinese player ever to go overseas and he remains the most successful and prolific one to this day, scoring 21 goals in 94 appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt in 3 seasons between 1998 and 2001 and was selected by Kicker magazine three times as the best XI of Bundesliga back then. Another personal favorite of mine, Shao Jiayi, also from Beijing went to play for TSV 1860 Munich and then went on to play for Cottbus and Duisburg in early 2000's. So far there have been 5 Chinese players who played in Bundesliga vs. 5 played in the EPL vs. just 2 in La Liga (including the latest Wu Lei. the first one, Zhang Chengdong joined Rayo Vallecano in 2015 and only played as a sub in 4 games).

From my recollection not just Chinese players, more Japanese and South Korean players as well have played in the Bundesliga than any other leagues.

The easy exposure to it might explain it then.

I would have thought that La Liga as a league and Spain as a country would be more exotic for the average Chinese. Not sure if that is the case in Japan and South Korea as I remember from my visits (albeit rather short) to those countries that us and RM and players from both clubs where rather exposed in terms of publicity. I have also noticed a lot of East Asian football fans on social media being interested/showing interest in Spanish football. I also remember our and RM's tours to the Far East in front of sold out crowds ages ago.

Not sure what the situation is in regards to the Bundesliga in Japan and South Korea so can't comment on that. Other than Bayern I can't imagine there being many fans of other German clubs. Maybe Dortmund due to Kagawa?

I guess if Spanish clubs begin to focus more on Chinese players this perception will quickly change. At least it should.

BTW I would have thought (maybe that is my ignorance) that Chinese would look at Germany somewhat negatively due to events in WW2 and their close alliance with Japan. I guess that this is not the case. Probably the state communism ideology (or what is left of it) that is attributed to our "lovely" Jewish German friend (Karl Max) probably had a more positive impact.